Minnesota Wild GM Chuck Fletcher: It's time for some continuity

Minnesota Wild General Manager Chuck Fletcher contemplates a reporter's question during a news conference
Saturday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. (Pioneer Press: John Autey)

Chuck Fletcher was staring at the ceiling at 3:30 a.m. early Saturday morning. He couldn't sleep.

The Minnesota Wild general manager doesn't sleep much anyway, he said, but this time something was keeping him up. Fletcher was running different offseason scenarios through his head.

"My job is just starting," he said.

The Wild's season is over after a 4-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Now begins the busiest time of year for Fletcher, who will return for his fifth season in charge of the Wild's personnel decisions.

The first of those was inviting back coach Mike Yeo, who will return for a third season after being promoted from the Wild's top minor league affiliate to replace Todd Richards prior to the 2010-11 campaign.

Free agency and the June draft are Fletcher's big responsibilities, and while this summer won't be as busy or crazy as last year -- when the Wild spent nearly $200 million on free agents Zach Parise and Ryan Suter -- management will still have to do some heavy lifting.

Niklas Backstrom, the Wild's top goalie since midway through the 2006 season, is an unrestricted free agent. So are forwards Matt Cullen and Pierre-Marc Bouchard. A decision needs to be made as to whether Dany Heatey and his $7.5 million cap hit will return. And the team needs to decide how it can -- or if it can -- bring in another goal-scorer and bulk up the blue line?

"We've got a lot of work this summer. Let's not kid ourselves," Fletcher said.

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"That said, I'm really happy with the progress that we've made. And I mean that -- I'm not just saying that."

The salary cap is decreasing by about $7 million to around $63 million, and the Wild closed out this season a hair under the 2012-13 limit of $70 million. Even so, the team and its fans are seeking improvement.

"There will be some changes this summer," Fletcher said. "I don't think it will be quite as dramatic as last summer, or maybe before, but there will be some changes."

Much of that may have to come from within.

Little will likely change with the defense. Fletcher is pleased with the way the top two pairings -- Jonas Brodin and Ryan Suter, and Marco Scandella and Jared Spurgeon -- played at the end of this season. Clayton Stoner, Tom Gilbert, and Nate Prosser are under contract, too. Justin Falk is a restricted free agent. And while fans are excited to see 2012 first-round draft pick Matthew Dumba, he's still just 18.

If the team feels it has enough depth, it may try to swap Gilbert and his $4 million cap hit for a draft pick or prospect.

Many of the same forwards will return, too, though Bouchard's time in Minnesota may be up. After playing his first full season since a concussion suffered in 2009, Bouchard, 29, wants ice time, something the Wild likely won't be able to give him. The hope within the organization is that rookie Mikael Granlund will have a roster spot.

The top prospect hasn't panned out as well as fellow 21-year-olds Jason Zucker and Charlie Coyle, but the Wild are still counting on him to take the next step.

If the team re-signs Cullen, they'll have their top-3 centers set with Mikko Koivu and Kyle Brodziak being the others. If that's the case, Granlund's best chance for cracking the lineup would likely be a position change to winger, which he played for periods this season.

After Cullen had his best season in some time, there is more pressure for the team to re-sign him, especially considering the leadership he brings on and off the ice.

"Centers are always hard to get, so I think there's always a market for those type of players," Fletcher said. "We'll sit down. I have a great relationship with Matt."

But before any of those decisions are made, Fletcher must assess the 2012-13 season.

"We've come a long way," he said. "It's only been 36 hours since the Chicago loss, but I can tell you we improved in every statistical measure beside penalty kill. It shows how far we've come. We're trending the right way.

"But I think what needs to happen is some of the emotion has to die down here. I don't know if anyone makes the right decisions with their emotion still attached to the season."

The first step was giving Yeo a public vote of confidence. Fletcher confirmed that Yeo and his coaching staff will be back. They had come under pressure even before the playoffs started, and losing the first playoff appereance in five years in five games didn't change anything.

Fletcher, who fired Richards after two seasons, said it's time for consistency within the organization.

"I think it's important," he said. "We've had a lot of change here, and some of it, obviously, because we've struggled. But we've changed a lot of players and changed a lot of staff, and I think at some point you need to allow everybody to get better.

"You can't just keep changing every year or two; you've got to have some semblance of continuity."